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'Kanye West for president' gains steam on social media after Trump win

By Helena Andrews-Dyer, The Washington Post

Updated:
11/09/2016 02:50:35 PM EST

FILE - In this July 1, 2012, file photo, Kanye West, left, and Jay-Z accept the award for best group for "The Throne" at the BET Awards in Los Angeles. West told the crowd during his show in Seattle on Oct. 19, 2016, that his kids haven't played with Jay Z's daughter. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File) (Matt Sayles)

They've got to be joking, right? Wrong. If there's one thing Nov. 8 taught us, it's that entertainment and American politics are not exactly mutually exclusive. Enter Kanye West for president.

The rapper and husband of reality TV star Kim Kardashian West announced at the 2015 Video Music Awards that he planned on making a bid for the highest office in the land.

"And yes as you probably could've guessed by this moment I have decided in 2020 to run for president," said West, after admitting that he had smoke "something" to knock the edge off before he accepted MTV's Vanguard award. After that announcement, West dropped the mic and waltzed off the stage while the crowd went wild.

That was more than a year ago, but Tuesday night, emboldened by Trump's stunning win, West fans (and potential voters) picked up the rapper's mantle anew. The hashtag "#kanye2020? started to gain steam on Twitter.

For his part, West, whose last tweet was a happy birthday message to his wife, Kim, has remained silent on social media. But in August, he told BBC Radio 1 that he was concerned about issues such as police brutality and wanted to do something to "make a difference" in his lifetime.

"When I talk about the idea of being president, I'm not saying I have any political views," the rapper said. "I just have a view on humanity, on people, on the truth."

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